- At the beginning of the film, the focus flashes from Ali, Zaire performance musicians, and other related images, to footage of the Ku Klux Klan among other images of suffering in Africa and Pre-civil rights America. What do you think was the purpose of introducing the film this way?
- Ali makes it clear he's fighting on Team Africa. What is Foreman fighting to represent? Did he have a choice? As an American, do you see Foreman as the antagonist?
- *SPOILER?* What do you think was Foreman's "succubus"? Why did he lose? Assuming this fight is more than just a boxing match, what is the succubus in the greater picture?
- Today, do we have celebrities who hold as much iconic and political weight as Muhammad Ali? If so, whom? If not, why is that?
- I have to ask, why "When We Were Kings"? Why not, for example, "We Will Be Kings"?
Diego Rivera, Pan-American Unity
Diego Rivera, Pan-American Unity
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
When We Were Kings
My Questions on the film:
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2. I think it would be misleading to assume that George Foreman was fighting for something specifically. He was fighting to keep his Championship and for himself. George Foreman did not have the luxury or the experience that Muhammad Ali had. Therefore Ali had more media exposure and was in a position to really play protagonist and use the crowd as an advantage. Foreman was, I believe, 24 at the time and Ali was 32. Youth was probably a large factor as well. Certainly in the film Foreman is portrayed as the antagonist. It wasn't necessarily Foreman's fault or any of his own doing. It was just a case of Foreman's image was completely overshadowed by Ali's. Not many people, if any, are as charismatic and likable as Ali (especially athletes).
ReplyDelete5) "When We Were Kings" refers to Africa’s storied past, the consciousness of which Ali taps repeatedly in turning what seems like an entire continent against Foreman. I guess it was titled "When We Were Kings" instead of "We Will Be Kings" because of that.
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